Dressing table safety belt



May 22, 1962 F. E. GOLDING DRESSING TABLE SAFETY BELT Filed Feb. 29, 1960 INVENTOR. jr' edi 'azciz'ry nited tes This invention relates to devices for use incidental to bathing and other care of infants and particularly to an improved safety belt for holding the infant on the table employed for dressing and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a safety belt which is quickly attachable to and detachable from the edges of the table top on which the infant is being cared for and which thus permits a towel or the like to be spread over the top of the table on which the infant may lie comfortably.

Another object of the invention is to provide an infant holding safety belt which is so constructed that the body encircling portion thereof is stayed or braced at a plurality of spaced points at each side thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety belt of the above character which comprises a single length of material having various portions thereof connected to each other to achieve the formation of the finished article.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such additional objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts, and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts described, by way of example, in the following specification of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of said specification and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a table top showing a belt embodying the invention attached thereto,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged, vertical, sectional view of the body encircling portion of the invention, the view being taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the edge of the table and the belt attaching means afiixed thereto,

FIG. 5 is a view on the same scale as FIG. 4 but taken on the line 5-5 of PEG. 2 to show the attachment of the end of the belt as viewed from the opposite side from the side shown in FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a prospective view of the table top engaging clip means at one end of the belt, the belt being shown swung away to more clearly show the attaching clip.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a table top T formed of sheet material, for example, sheet aluminum, said table top having an upturned and thence downwardly turned rim portion R terminating in a depending edge E.

The belt 1 comprises a strip or strap which may, conveniently, be formed of a length of plastic material hav ing the edges folded over and abutting or overlapping each other at the center of the folded strap and the entire strap being united along the center by a heat seaming or welding process as indicated at 2. As an equivalent structure or composition, the belt may be made of a strip of fabric and in place of the welding, a stitched seam could be used. Plastic, however, has the advantage of being easy to maintain in a clean and sanitary condition.

While, as hereinafter will be appreciated, the strip may start at other points in the formation of the completed belt, it will be described in the illustrated form. The strip from a beginning end 3 thereof is doubled on itself a short distance from said beginning end about the shank atnt 4 of a table edge engaging clip 5 and the overlying runs are secured to each other by a transverse seam 6 securing the shank of the clip 5 in the loop thus formed. The shorter end of the strip forms a run comprising a stay 7 to which further reference will presently be made. The longer end of the strip continues in a run 8 for a distance substantially equal to the width of the table with which the belt is to be used and is thence doubled over on itself about the shank 4' of a second table edge engaging clip 5' and this clip is secured in the loop thus formed by a second transverse seam '6'.

The strip thence continues toward the first side of the table for a distance of slightly more than the mid-point of the table in a run 9 which is thence doubled downwardly on itself about one limb each of two metal loops 1% and 11 carried thereby and which are secured thereon by a transverse seam 12; said doubled under portion of the strip forming a body encircling band comprising the run 13 which in addition to being secured to the under face of the run 9 by the transverse seam 12 is thence secured to the upper face of the run 8 by spaced transverse seams 14, 14, thence to the beginning end 3 of the strip by a transverse seam 15 which is horizontally opposite the seam 12 and the strip then terminates in a long, free end portion 16 adapted to be inserted through exposed limb of the loop '11 and thence doubled over the exposed limb of the loop 11 and thence back through the loop 10 to secure the strap about the torso of an infant.

It will be noted that the runs '7 and 9 cooperate with the portions of the run 8 between the transverse seams 14, 1d and the seams 6 and 6' to hold the body encircling portion 12 of the belt against any rolling motion. It will further be noted that since the ends of the belt which carries the clips 5 and 5 engage only the table edges, a folded towel or other material may be placed on the table top below the entire belt.

The clips 5 and 5 are'identical although necessarily placed in their respective loops in inverted relation. A description of the clip element 5 will serve for both. The wire at each end of the shank portion 4 is bent through a series of three right .angle bends to form rectangular loop portions 17, 17 with the free ends 18, 18 thereof crossing toward the shank portion 4 against which they preferably have an initial bias. As above noted, the edge of the table includes a depending sheet metal edge or lip E and the clips are engaged with this edge with the ends 18, 18 thereof engaging the inner face thereof with the bias of said ends serving to yieldingly clamp the looped portions of the belt surrounding the shank 4 against the outer face of the table edge, wherefore, the belt is securely but readily detachably anchored to the table top and it will be noted, this anchoring can be at any desired point along the length of the table.

While the belt is here desirably illustrated as being formed from a single length of material, it will be appreciated that it may equally readily be formed from a plurality of components connected to each other by transverse seams corresponding to those above described. Also it will be appreciated that while the illustrated fastening means for closing the belt about the torso of an infant are probably the most economical and practical, other equivalent devices may be used for this purpose.

While in the foregoing specification there has been disclosed a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated that as indicated at certain points in said specification, variations and modifications may be made. Consequently, it will be understood that the invention is not to be deemed to be limited to the precise details of construction of a presently preferred embodiment thus disclosed by way of example and it will be understood that the invention includes as well, all such 3 changes and modifications in the parts, and in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall come within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a safety belt means adapted to be detachably mounted on the depending edges of opposite sides of a dressing table for infants, a single flexible strip having a body encircling band portion terminating in manually operable closure means, quickly detachable means for securing said belt means on the top of a table at a point midway between the side edges of the table; said securing means comprising a second portion of said flexible strip extending transversely of the table top and having table edge engaging resilient clips at each end of said portion affording detachable clamping engagement with the opposite side edges of the table top and having the portion of said strip which forms said body encircling band opposite said closure means secured to the upper surface of said second portion of said strip midway between the ends of said second portion of said strip, and other portions of said flexible strip comprising flexible stay means and extending between the ends of said second portion of said strip and the exterior surface of said portion of said strip forming said body encircling band at points adjacent the opposite sides of said band portion closure means.

2. A safety belt as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said table edge engaging clips comprises a resilient metal element having a central shank portion mounted in a doubled over portion end of said flexible strip and having the ends thereof rebent to extend across said shank portion; said ends being initially biased to be yieldingly urged toward said shank portion for clampingly engaging opposite sides of the table edge.

3. In a safety belt means adapted to be detachably mounted on the depending edges at opposite sides of a dressing table for infants, a single flexible strip having a body encircling band portion including one end of said strip and a portion of said strip doubled on itself and carrying means releasably engagable with said one end for closing said band portion about the torso of an infant lying on the table, means carried by a second portion of said strip for securing said belt means to the top of a dressing table at a point midway between the side edges of the table; said last-named means including a pair of table edge engaging resilient clip elements carried by said second portion of said strip and each of said clip elements being adapted for detachable engagement with the opposite, depending side edges of the table top; said second portion of said flexible strip having the midlength thereof attached to the exterior surface of said body encircling band portion at a point substantially opposite the point of interengagement of said one end of said strip with said closure means, and other portions of said strip forming a pair of flexible stays disposed one each at each side of said body encircling band portion and each having one end thereof attached to said second portion of said strip adjacent one each of said clip elements and each having the other end thereof attached to the exterior surface of said body encircling band adjacent to one each of the opposite sides of the closure means thereof.

4. A safety belt as claimed in claim 3 in which each of said clip elements comprises a length of resilient wire having a central shank portion mounted in a loop formed by a doubled over portion of said flexible strip and having the opposite ends thereof rebent to cross said shank and biased to resiliently, clampingly engage the table edge between said ends and said shank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 837,373 Akers Dec. 4, 1906 1,035,329 Drish Aug. 13, 1912 1,543,653 Bagnor June 23, 1925 2,700,778 Syracuse Feb. 1, 1955 2,846,700 De Puy Aug. 12, 1958 

